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Swap-free accounts were created to accommodate traders whose religious principles prohibit earning or paying interest. Instead of crediting or debiting rollover, the broker removes the swap line entirely. That does not mean holding positions becomes free, because the economic cost of financing still exists somewhere.

Most providers recoup it through an administration fee. The structure varies: some charge a flat amount per lot per day, others apply a percentage of position value, and some widen spreads or add commissions. Fees often begin only after a set number of days, with a short grace period of one to a few days being common.

A frequent misunderstanding is that swap-free automatically beats a standard account for long-term positions. On pairs where the swap would have been positive, the standard account earns a credit while the swap-free version earns nothing and may even pay a fee. On pairs where the swap is negative, the fee may be smaller or larger depending on the broker.

For scalpers closing trades within hours, the difference is mostly irrelevant, provided positions never cross rollover. Anyone considering such an account should read the fee schedule closely, since terms for gold, indices and crypto frequently differ from those for major currency pairs.

Good summary. The administration fee often turns out larger than the swap would have been. We compared two swap-free accounts for a client: one charged a flat fee per lot per night after a grace period of a few days, the other widened the spread on pairs with large rate differentials.

For a scalper who rarely holds overnight, the spread markup version is more expensive, because it applies to every trade. For someone holding for weeks, the flat fee adds up. So it depends on the style, and comparing the actual cost on your own trades is the only way to know.